Tag Archives: endorsement

In 8 days (9/9/16), the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion, there will be a coordinated work stoppage by prisoners across the US.

Prisoners are among the most acutely oppressed and exploited workers. Mass incarceration, historically speaking, has direct continuity with Southern chattel slavery (and under the 13th Amendment, slavery remains legal so long as the slave is convicted of something first. The criminal “justice” system, of course, has always been complicit in maintaining racialized enslavement.) Whether it’s private prisons, large-scale deportation (thanks Obama!), or prisoners being hired out to work for pennies at gunpoint, prisons exist to serve the ruling class. They enforce and reproduce white supremacy, and show brutally directly that the state does not stand outside capitalism, systemic racism, and the power of the ruling class – it administers and enforces them. Nothing short of prison abolition must be revolutionaries’ goal. Continue reading →

Humboldt Grassroots folks are answering the call for solidarity and fully endorse the Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage on September 9th, 2016, organized by the Free Alabama Movement, Free Virginia Movement, and other revolutionary prisoner worker organizations and individuals.
The purpose of this strike is to escalate the struggle to abolish slavery in America once and for all by the end of the year. The strike organizers spell out in the Call to Action that all prison labor is slavery.
(https://iwoc.noblogs.org/post/2016/04/01/announcement-of-nationally-coordinated-prisoner-workstoppage-for-sept-9-2016/)
“Prisoners are forced to work for little or no pay. That is slavery. The 13th amendment to the US constitution maintains a legal exception for continued slavery in US prisons. It states ‘neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.’ Overseers watch over our every move, and if we do not perform our appointed tasks to their liking, we are punished.”
We pledge to demonstrate on September 9th and to help expose the corporations that are profiting from the slave labor of prisoners. We will continue to work in solidarity with this struggle in the days afterward. Humboldt Grassroots stands against oppression with everyone in the struggle for freedom and justice for all. We couldn’t agree more with the IWW General Executive Board that it is the duty of working class organizations like the IWW (and really anyone and everyone who wants freedom and social justice) to support the struggle of prisoner workers. We echo the IWW call for other revolutionary organizations to offer their support and solidarity to this important cause.
Here is the Pamphlet(http://insurgenttheatre.org/sprdocs/strikepamphlet_notlocal.pdf) to share and print out to let people know what’s going down — National Prisoner Work Stoppage on September 9th.
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We are having a solidarity demonstration on the 9th
here is the event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1240936135938243/

We are Staten Islanders who were shocked, saddened, angered, and ultimately moved to action by the NYPD’s harassment and murder of Eric Garner which took place on July 17th, 2014, and the subsequent miscarriage of justice when one of his murderers, Daniel Pantaleo, received a non-indictment in December of that year. Staten Island Against Racism and Police Brutality (Siarapb) subsequently formed as a diverse multi-racial and multi-ethnic group of students, faculty, and members of the community on the eve of the non-indictment that had had enough with the harassment, murder and impunity of the NYPD, and the larger patterns of police brutality, mass incarceration, and Stop & Frisk, Broken Windows, and Quality of Life policing which disproportionately targets people and communities of color here in Staten Island and across the United States.

As we write this, we are coming up on two years of justice denied, as Eric’s children are deprived of their father, while the officer that killed him walks free. It has also been two years of justice misplaced, as his friend, Ramsey Orta, who filmed and released the video of Eric’s murder, continues to be subjected to a prosecutorial witch hunt for challenging the authority of the NYPD. Two years later we are still calling for justice to be brought to the parties responsible for Eric Garner’s death and for greater accountability from our justice system.Continue reading →

On September 9th, 2016 prisoners across the United States will be conducting work stoppages, hunger strikes and other forms of action in a call to end prison slavery. The call was originated by organizers from the Free Alabama Movement. A national coalition of community groups associated with the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, Anarchist Black Cross chapters and others throughout the country have come together to build a national support network to push for a final end to prison slavery.

To achieve this goal, we need support from the international community. We hope that prisoner support groups in the across the globe will hold solidarity demos and inform prisoners they are in contact with about the September 9th day of action. This spring and summer will be seasons of organizing, spreading the word, building networks of solidarity and showing that we’re serious and what we’re capable of. We ask that you organize some sort of solidarity action and help spread the word to prisoners in your area. We hope that the fires of prison rebellion spread from the United States to prisons across the globe! With one unified voice of rebellion we can send a strong message to captors across the globe that the iron bars of their cage cannot contain our thirst for freedom! Continue reading →

Wow, 35 years. Just in case you don’t understand what’s going on, let’s do a short history lesson: Attica. In 1971, I was 2 years old, but I remember hearing stories about the uprising at Attica Prison in New York. Once known as one of the most dangerous and notorious prisons, mostly for its torture and killing of unarmed prisoners/men, there was this massive riot and prison takeover, one of the biggest in the history of the prison system. A lot of people died during that prison riot/massive takeover. The takeover was so extensive that it got a lot of media coverage and lots of exposure of the deplorable and inhumane treatment of human beings/prisoners. These men came together in solidarity and risked their lives (some gave up their lives) in support of overthrowing a corrupt system, leading up to one of the biggest prison riots in the history of prisons in the United States.

Prisoners across the US have called for and are planning a nationally coordinated work stoppage and protest on September 9th. Read the call to action here.

This action deserves and would benefit greatly from robust outside support. If you are engaged in any kind of work against mass incarceration, whether as an individual or organization, please consider supporting the strike.

Send your endorsements and pledges of support to PrisonerResistance@gmail.com and we will publish them on this site and make sure you’re getting updates about ways to make good on that pledge.

If you have concerns or misgivings, please check out the frequently asked questions below, or contact us and we’d be happy to discuss it with you or your organization. Thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Sept 9th?
Why 2016?
Who is calling for the strike?
Why does the language refer to prison slavery?
This action has the potential to put incarcerated persons in extremely dangerous situations if it isn’t well-backed and thought through. What about the danger?What about demands, tactics and strategies?
How many / which prisoners are on board with the strike?
Who is coordinating outside support for this effort? What is IWOC, how did it start?
What kind of support is needed?
Any other questions or concerns?Continue reading →

WHEREAS the Free Alabama Movement, Free Virginia Movement, and other revolutionary prison groups around the United States have jointly called for a Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage on September 9th, 2016, and

WHEREAS IWW members in prison and their allies are at the forefront of fighting the prison system from the inside,

MOVED that the GEB endorse the September 9th prisoner work stoppage with the following language:

The General Executive Board of the Industrial Workers of the World endorses the Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Work Stoppage on September 9th, 2016 organized by the Free Alabama Movement, Free Virginia Movement, and other revolutionary prisoner worker organizations and individuals. It is the duty of working class organizations like the IWW to support the struggle of prisoner workers. We call on other unions and revolutionary working class organizations to offer their support and solidarity to this important cause.

The GEB also encourages branches and IWWs to consider planning an action for September 9, to start a local organizing group, and to donate to the efforts at iwoc.noblogs.org/donate.